British foreign minister visits Cuba in first such trip since 1959

Britain’s foreign minister arrived in Cuba on Thursday in the first such visit since 1959, to hold talks on cooperation in “financial services, energy, culture and education”, London announced. It follows last month’s landmark visit by President Barack Obama to the Caribbean nation as part of a historic rapprochement between Cuba and the United States after 50 years of enmity stemming back to the Cold War. “As the first British Foreign Secretary to visit Cuba since before the Cuban Revolution in 1959, this is an opportunity to hear for myself what Cuba thinks about its present challenges and where it sees its future,” Philip Hammond said in a statement.